Maradona to Madness? Analyzing Napoli's Post-Maradona Era

Diego, Diego, Diego surrounded the streets of Naples during 1984 to 1991. Known as a god-like figure, Diego Maradona brought the city together with filled hearts. Napoli, the biggest club in the south of Italy, secured the signature of Maradona from Spanish giants FC Barcelona, for what was then a world record fee £6.9m in 1984. Success soon followed, winning two Scudetti, UEFA Cup, Coppa Italia and a Super Cup all within seven glorious years. Not only did Diego bring an excitement and goals to the faithful, he improved all players around him on field too.

But what happened once the god like figure decided to leave Italy? Maradon’s time in Naples at first was full of success and joy, people within the streets walked with a spring in their step and a smile from ear to ear as they finally saw their side challenge with the world’s elite. Napoli had broken the monopoly thanks to Maradona. He ended the season with a personal high, finishing top scorer with 10 goals. The Partenopei's final Scudetto to date came during 1990-91 season. It’s never healthy to put all hope and faith into one individual but in the eyes of the Napoletani their god like captain could do no wrong. But that began to change when their talismanic captain urged the Azzurri to support Argentina in the World Cup, Italia 90.

That’s where his demise begin; after the tournament, Maradona was banned for 15 months for testing positive after a drug test. He never represented the club again, and local newspapers released photographs of him partying with then the crime organisation, known as Camorra. Even if the club’s president – Corrado Ferlaino – hired private detectives to keep a close eye on the behaviour of Diego, it wasn't enough.

Although Maradona was absent during the 1991-92 season, this was masked by the brilliance of the young super star Gianfranco Zola. Once Maradona returned to Spain, the downward spiral began. Although they steadily in the Serie A, from 1993-95 success stories were largely down to a talented crop of players, Daniel Fonseca, Fabio Cannavaro and Zola who are now well known players across the world.